Golf is enjoyed by a wide variety of players—players of different genders and dramatically different ages and/or skill levels. Golf is somewhat unique in the sporting world in that such diverse collections of players can play together in golf events, even in direct competition with one another (e.g., using handicapped scoring, different tee boxes, in team formats, etc.), and still enjoy the golf outing or competition. These factors, together with the increased availability of golf programming on television (e.g., golf tournaments, golf news, golf history, and/or other golf programming) and the rise of well known golf celebrities, at least in part, have increased golf's popularity in recent years, both in the United States and across the world.
Golfers at all skill levels seek to improve their performance, lower their golf scores, and reach that next performance “level.” Manufacturers of all types of golf equipment have responded to these demands, and in recent years, the industry has witnessed dramatic changes and improvements in golf equipment. Being the sole instrument that sets a golf ball in motion during play, golf clubs have been the subject of much technological research and advancement in recent years. A wide range of different golf club models now are available, with the market seeing dramatic changes and improvements in golf club head designs, shafts, and grips in recent years. Even further, other technological advancements have been made in an effort to better match the various elements and/or characteristics of the golf club and characteristics of a golf ball to a particular user's swing features or characteristics (e.g., club fitting technology, ball launch angle measurement technology, ball spin rates, etc.).
For a given club head mass, the distance a golf ball travels when struck by a golf club is determined in large part by the speed of the club head at the moment of impact with the golf ball. This is especially the case for drivers. Higher club head speeds at the moment of impact result in a greater energy being transmitted to the golf ball, with corresponding greater distances being achieved. The ultimate speed of the club head may be affected by factors such as the drag developed by the club head during the entirety of the swing. Thus, various golf club heads for drivers have been introduced to improve the aerodynamic characteristics of the golf club, thereby reducing the drag.
Additionally, the speed developed by the club head at the moment of impact may be affected by factors such as the mass characteristics of the club. For example, golf clubs with greater moments-of-inertia require more energy to swing than clubs with lower moments-of-inertia. Thus, clubs with lower moments-of-inertia may achieve a greater ultimate club head speed compared to clubs with higher moments-of-inertia. However, as moments-of-inertia reflect the mass distribution of the club, with masses farthest from the point of rotation having the greatest affect, appreciably reducing the moment-of-inertia of a golf club would typically require that the mass of the golf club head be decreased. On the other hand, a reduction in the mass of the club head may be undesirable, as the amount of energy transferred from the club head to the golf ball is a function of the mass of the club head.
While the industry has made significant improvements to golf equipment in recent years, every player would like to improve the distance they are able to reliably hit the golf ball. Accordingly, there is room in the art for further advances in golf club technology.